Leave of absence

Golden_Glow90

I’m a teacher and working from home is therefore not the norm so there aren’t any policies in place but I was asked if I could go in to collect some things for working at home. I told them I would not be able to come in until the following day as I needed to stay in for a delivery. I was told that I’d need to complete a leave of absence form and take unpaid leave for the day. I believe this is totally unfair as I was working on my laptop all day completing tasks I’d been given whilst waiting for the delivery so I wasn’t unavailable for work. I can’t afford to lose a day’s pay and my union are of no help as they don’t know where I stand either

Comms69

Well it seems like you refused a reasonable request from your employer?

Now i agree losing a full day seems a bit much, and i'd raise a grievance based upon that. But your personal errands shouldnt really impact on your job.

CocoM2020

Know that my sister had a similar situation. Was told by her bosses if they asked her to come into the office and she couldn’t she would have to take a days leave. (Regardless if she could work from home as certain tasks required her to be in office in her case). 

They asked you to come in, you said no. Yes you worked from home but that’s not what they asked of you. You weren’t available for them that day. 

Golden_Glow90

Well actually, they shouldn’t ask me to go in at all. It was agreed (recorded in the minutes from a virtual meeting) that I would work from home as it was not safe for me to go to work (after completing a risk assessment) and that they would give me notice if they required me to go in. They emailed me at 3:30pm and asked me to go in the following day. 

JamoLew

Golden_Glow90 said:

Well actually, they shouldn’t ask me to go in at all. It was agreed (recorded in the minutes from a virtual meeting) that I would work from home as it was not safe for me to go to work (after completing a risk assessment) and that they would give me notice if they required me to go in. They emailed me at 3:30pm and asked me to go in the following day. 

unless it was specified exactly how much notice then they did give you notice

Comms69

Golden_Glow90 said:

Well actually, they shouldn’t ask me to go in at all. It was agreed (recorded in the minutes from a virtual meeting) that I would work from home as it was not safe for me to go to work (after completing a risk assessment) and that they would give me notice if they required me to go in. They emailed me at 3:30pm and asked me to go in the following day. 

Why do you think that's unreasonable?

Golden_Glow90

JamoLew said:

Golden_Glow90 said:

Well actually, they shouldn’t ask me to go in at all. It was agreed (recorded in the minutes from a virtual meeting) that I would work from home as it was not safe for me to go to work (after completing a risk assessment) and that they would give me notice if they required me to go in. They emailed me at 3:30pm and asked me to go in the following day. 

unless it was specified exactly how much notice then they did give you notice

A week’s notice is what was agreed, although I had said that if I was able to go in earlier than that then of course I would. The reason for this notice was for several reasons, one was to ensure measures were put in place for my safety and to avoid busier days and secondly due to childcare as I’d have to arrange for someone else to take my son to school due to the time of the morning I’d have to leave for work.

Comms69

Golden_Glow90 said:

JamoLew said:

Golden_Glow90 said:

Well actually, they shouldn’t ask me to go in at all. It was agreed (recorded in the minutes from a virtual meeting) that I would work from home as it was not safe for me to go to work (after completing a risk assessment) and that they would give me notice if they required me to go in. They emailed me at 3:30pm and asked me to go in the following day. 

unless it was specified exactly how much notice then they did give you notice

A week’s notice is what was agreed, although I had said that if I was able to go in earlier than that then of course I would. The reason for this notice was for several reasons, one was to ensure measures were put in place for my safety and to avoid busier days and secondly due to childcare as I’d have to arrange for someone else to take my son to school due to the time of the morning I’d have to leave for work.

But how is that applicable to you coming in to pick something up? Not to stay there for work.

Golden_Glow90

Comms69 said:

Golden_Glow90 said:

JamoLew said:

Golden_Glow90 said:

Well actually, they shouldn’t ask me to go in at all. It was agreed (recorded in the minutes from a virtual meeting) that I would work from home as it was not safe for me to go to work (after completing a risk assessment) and that they would give me notice if they required me to go in. They emailed me at 3:30pm and asked me to go in the following day. 

unless it was specified exactly how much notice then they did give you notice

A week’s notice is what was agreed, although I had said that if I was able to go in earlier than that then of course I would. The reason for this notice was for several reasons, one was to ensure measures were put in place for my safety and to avoid busier days and secondly due to childcare as I’d have to arrange for someone else to take my son to school due to the time of the morning I’d have to leave for work.

But how is that applicable to you coming in to pick something up? Not to stay there for work.

Because they wanted me to come in first thing and to discuss what I needed to do. They were documents they wanted me to work through and said it would be easier to explain face to face and first thing would be better for them since it would be before the children arrived at school. So yes, it is applicable because although I wouldn’t be there all day, I’d still need to arrange someone to take my son to school and since I’d be having a face to face conversation with someone, I’d have liked the opportunity to have discussed where this was going to take place to ensure social distancing for my safety since the offices are too small

Comms69

I'll go back to my previous point, raise a grievance, but all these excuses arent the one you gave them - which is "i was waiting for a delivery"

Savvy_Sue

Comms69 said:

I'll go back to my previous point, raise a grievance, but all these excuses arent the one you gave them - which is "i was waiting for a delivery"

Agreed, if you'd said "at the meeting on x date, it was agreed you'd give me a week's notice. Without that, I cannot make the arrangements I need to travel to school. I'd also like to know where the meeting is taking place" then I'd have thought you'd be home free.